The Golden Hairpin

Who will look for her early in the morning?

Huang Zixia walked to Chunyutang in three steps and two steps, and found that standing there was Chen Nianniang holding the piano.

"Chen Niang, why did you come to me in person?" She greeted me in surprise, took the piano in her hand, and helped her put it on the piano table.

Chen Nianniang smiled and said: "Naturally, you are not attentive as you learn the piano. If you don't come twice in three days, I have to come and chase you."

"I'm so sorry, Niang Chen." Knowing that she was joking, Huang Zixia quickly apologized, "I have been busy recently, but after I indulged in mundane affairs, I forgot the voice of elegance."

"I have also heard that the girl from the Wang family is really a blessing. At first everyone in Beijing was envious. Who knew that she died so miserably in a blink of an eye. I heard that the body was so terrible to watch. It's really regrettable." Chen Nianniang adjusted the strings, while Sighed.

Huang Zixia thought in her heart, Chen Niang, but you don't know that the messy corpse of your Yi Niang is as painful as the corpse of the nameless woman.

Looking at Chen Nianniang's drooping face, she had a momentary impulse to give the piece of suet jade taken out of Feng Yiniang's body to Chen Nianniang, telling her that Yiniang was dead, so don't look for it in Beijing and wait. However, she looked at Chen Nianniang's white hair that had emerged for several days, but she couldn't say that sentence.

Chen Nianniang lowered her eyebrows, and played "Worshipping the New Moon" for a while. As if with the sound of her piano, both indoors and outdoors reverberated, and there was a sense of silence in the night.

Huang Zixian sighed and said, "Chen Niang, your piano is truly unparalleled in the world."

"How is it possible." Chen Nianniang emptied her hands on the strings, raised her head slowly and said, "If you talk about piano art, I'm just a first glimpse of the doorway, like Jinnu's."

Huang Zixia asked casually: "Did Niang Chen meet Jin Nu recently?"

"No, that's why I came to see my father-in-law today." She said slightly worried. "I went to Guangzhaifang Youjiaofang to look for Jinnu yesterday. I heard that she hasn't appeared in Jiaofang for many days."

"Huh?" Huang Zixia was stunned, "Can't find Jin Nu?" Jin Nu's words always made her feel uncomfortable, and she always wanted to take an opportunity to ask her.

"Yeah. The people from Jiaofangsi were very enthusiastic and asked someone to open her room to find them. Who thought she should have lost some of her favorite clothing and jewelry, and even her favorite pipa given by the master was taken away. The people in Jiaofang just stomped their feet and said that they probably fell in love with someone else, and eloped with them. It is said that since Xuanzong, Jiaofang management has been evacuated every day. In recent years, such things have not been one or two."

"She too... has disappeared?" Huang Zixia couldn't help being surprised. With Jin Nu included, this was already the third person to disappear inexplicably.

Chen Nianniang said anxiously: "Yes, I couldn't wait for her yesterday, and I was a little worried. If I said that I eloped with others, I didn't think there was any such sign. She only fought with Zhao Wang before, and I also persuaded her several times. , But she just won't listen..."

"Chen Niang, don't worry, you can tell me in detail about Jin Nu, especially her movements in the past few days before she disappeared." Huang Zixia quickly moved a chair and sat down beside her.

Chen Nianniang sighed: "I asked the people in Jiaofang carefully and said that the last time I saw her was three nights ago. It was almost the time of curfew. She came back with a drunk drink. It is said that she was drinking in Zhujinlou."

Huang Zixia nodded: "I was there that day. It was because of the Wang family girl’s accident in the palace, so a group of people went to dinner together to discuss the case. I don’t know who called Jin Nu. She also seemed to like the liveliness and was very interested in the night. He also helped us pack the cherries—but her well-maintained hands obviously never touched the sun, and even complained about being stuck by cherry stems."

"This child is like this, with a knife-mouthed tofu heart, but a good person, but he doesn't speak well at all times." Chen Nianniang said.

Huang Zixian asked again: "Chen Niang, you said you wrote to Lauder last time, do you have an answer now?"

"What's the hurry? Even if Lauder receives the letter, let Xue Er go to Beijing, it's only a few days, how could it be here?"

Huang Zixia listened to her sigh, and interjected quietly: "Xue Se should call Lauder an aunt, right?"

"Yes, Lauder and Mei Banzhi are sisters, so naturally they are snow-colored aunts." Chen Nianniang nodded, "Lander ranks third among the six, Yangzhou soft dance first, Green waist, Echo, Chunying Well, it is said that there is no one in the world."

Huang Zixia asked again: "I don't know if Chen Niang remembers, did Xue Se come to Yangzhou alone? There should be a young girl with her?"

Chen Nianniang said "Ah" and said, "I remembered what I said. Xue Se came with Xiao Shi at the time. It is said that Xiao Shi's parents died in the war and became sisters with Xue Se in Xuzhou. , Made an appointment to depend on life and death, so they came together."

Huang Zixia nodded silently, and after verifying her own thoughts, she didn't know how specific this thought would help this case. She only faintly felt that it must be an important thread that she had never seen before.

A case is like a big tree. The part above the soil that people see is always only a small part. Under that, there are huge intertwined knots, but if you don’t dig it out, you will never know that it is buried underneath. True appearance.

Speaking of Xue Se and Xiao Shi, Chen Nianniang seemed to think of something, staring blankly at a lone tree outside the window, and then suddenly tears rolled down.

Huang Zixia quickly patted her shoulder and whispered to her, "Ms. Chen, don't be too sad."

"How can I not be sad...Actually, I also know that Yi Niang must not be able to come back." She said in a daze, and she saw big tears rolling down in her eyes. "I dreamed of Yi Niang again last night and she was floating on me. In front of me, the body was transparent like colored glaze. She told me, Nian Niang, the beauty of the year, the flow is easy to wither, after that, you are the only one who has suffered in the world... When I woke up, I only saw the wind blowing in the bamboo shadow outside the window, and my chest came out. Go, just reverberate with what she said to me in her dream. I know she is no longer in the world..."

Huang Zixian was embarrassed. She took out the handkerchief from her cuff to wipe Chen Nianniang's tears, but unexpectedly a small thing wrapped in paper in her sleeve was slipped out by the handkerchief. The little paper bag seemed to have eyes, and rolled to Chen Nianniang. Chen Nianniang took the handkerchief that Huang Zixia handed over, raised her hand to hold her eye, and pressed her elbow on the small paper bag.

In a daze, she couldn't feel anything in her hand.

Huang Zixia hesitated for a moment, and felt that there was no point in concealing the matter, so she pulled the small paper bag out of her hand and handed it to her, saying, "Ms. Chen, you open this."

Chen Nianniang covered her eyes, her throat muffled: "What is it?"

Huang Zixia didn't speak, but just looked at her.

Chen Nianniang hesitated, and slowly raised her hand to unwrap the white paper.

What was exposed inside was a gleaming and flawless white jade, although it was only the size of a fingernail, it became more and more exquisite and lovely.

Chen Nianniang's hand trembled violently. She grabbed the jade and looked at the word "Nian" engraved on it against the light.

The brilliance flowed in the sunlight coming through the window, and the golden light faintly fluctuated, piercing their eyes deeply.

At that moment, Chen Nianniang's eyes closed. She closed so tightly, her eyes were so desperate, as if her eyes had been blinded by the word at this moment, and never saw anything in this world ever since.

For a long time, for a long time.

Chen Nianniang trembled and asked, "Yes, where did you find it?"

"It is a group of Youzhou refugees who died of the epidemic. There is a woman who was about forty years old. Unlike others, she died of poisoning. But when we found her, her body had been burned, and only this was left. A piece of jade." She did not say that they found it in Feng Yiniang's belly, fearing that Chen Nianniang would be too shocked.

"Twenty years ago, Yi Niang and I were both young girls. At that time, we were not well-known and our skills were not outstanding, so after saving for a long time, we finally bought two pieces of mutton fat jade, which were carved on them. Recalling and reciting the words and handing them to the other party. At that time we said, "Yongyi and Jun are good, and we will support her for life..." Chen Nianniang clutched the piece of jade tightly, but she couldn't make a sound when she said this.

Huang Zixian sat quietly beside her, watching the light coming through the house shone on Chen Nianniang’s face. The white hair on her temples and the fine wrinkles on her face seemed so obvious now. The surviving beautiful woman I met the previous month.

"Who, who killed Yi Niang?" Chen Nian Niang finally asked slowly.

Huang Zixian took a deep breath, then shook his head and said, "I don't know yet. But I think this matter must be related to the missing case of the Wang family."

"Wang girl?"

Huang Zixia said: "It's the Queen Kui who has been going viral in the capital recently. Does Chen Niang know about it?"

Chen Nianniang held the jade in her hand and nodded numbly.

"I have found out that the daughter of the deceased Yi Niang entrusted to **** is Wang Ruo, the girl from the Wang family. Actually, I have seen Yi Niang by Wang Ruo once, and I already knew about it, but because I was afraid of your sadness, I didn’t say it. Export."

Chen Nianniang said blankly: "But now, I heard that Wang Ruo is also dead..."

"Yes, I suspect that Yi Niang's death is related to Wang Ruo's death. But now the truth is not yet revealed, and I have no clue."

"Can you really find out the truth?" Chen Nianniang whispered in a trance.

Huang Zixia said: "At least, I will try my best."